The arrest of several Chinese buyers for tax evasion and the weakening Chinese economy is hurting trade with Myanmar’s largest rice export market, said U Soe Tun, vice chair of the Myanmar Rice Federation. “Exports across the border have slowed,” he said. China is the destination for over half of Myanmar’s rice exports…Full Article: Myanmar Times July 2015

Key Point

According to the Joint Secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation, 59 Chinese rice traders have been arrested for tax evasion in China.

In 2014, China banned Burmese rice imports in order to institute new safety and quality control regulations. According to the Chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation, China will begin importing rice legally in January 2015 (i.e. at least 1 million MTs of Burmese rice at US$400 per MT).

From 2009 to 2013, China’s (incl. Hong and Macao) rice imports from Burma increased from 331 MTs to 7,067 MTs. These figures do not include informal or illegal trade across the border.